The co-production of propylene oxide and styrene monomer, also referred to as the ‘POSM’ process, involves the oxidation of ethylbenzene to form ethylbenzene hydroperoxide, followed by the catalytic reaction of the hydroperoxide with propylene to form propylene oxide (PO) and 1-phenyl ethanol, and the dehydration of the 1-phenyl ethanol to produce styrene monomer. In the POSM process, various distillation steps are employed in order to separate unreacted reagents, as well as various product streams, and one or more washing steps may be employed in order to purify various streams. In the POSM process, and other such processes directed to the production of propylene oxide or other chemicals, a large volume of by-product streams comprising oxygenate(s) are generated. Without further treatment, these by-product stream(s) are a low value product stream that may be useful as a low grade fuel.
Accordingly, an ongoing need exists for systems and methods for upgrading low value organic, oxygenate-containing stream(s) produced in a variety of processes, such as, without limitation, PO or POSM production processes.